FIRST Wild Card Tour: 365 Things Every New Mom Should Know by Linda Danis

It is time for a FIRST Wild Card Tour book review! If you wish to join the FIRST blog alliance, just click the button. We are a group of reviewers who tour Christian books. A Wild Card post includes a brief bio of the author and a full chapter from each book toured. The reason it is called a FIRST Wild Card Tour is that you never know if the book will be fiction, non~fiction, for young, or for old...or for somewhere in between! Enjoy your free peek into the book!

You never know when I might play a wild card on you!

Today's Wild Card author is:

Linda Danis

and the book:

365 Things Every New Mom Should Know

Harvest House Publishers (April 2012)

***Special thanks to Ginger Chen of Harvest House for sending me a review copy.***

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Linda Danis has a degree in marketing and spent five years in hotel management before staying at home to run a hotel of a different sort—guests ages 3, 6, 9, and 11. Linda has written Sunday school curricula, started a co–op preschool, and leads a Moms in Touch prayer ministry at her children’s school.  She lives with her husband, Dave, and children in California.

SHORT BOOK DESCRIPTION:

This daily guide to the first year of a baby s life combines prayerful, playful, and practical information to energize new moms. Features weekly devotionals and daily activities that foster a baby s physical, emotional, social, and spiritual growth.

Product Details:
List Price: $12.99
Paperback: 272 pages
Publisher: Harvest House Publishers
Language: English
ISBN-10:0736923829
ISBN-13: 978-0-7369-2382-8

Click here to read my review of 365 Things Every New Mom Should Know by Linda Danis.

AND NOW...THE FIRST CHAPTER:

My child, you hold the whole of my heart in your small hands.

Author Unknown

Week 1

Day 1

After all these long months, your precious little baby has finally arrived. The child you have longed for is here to hold, to look at, and to touch. Your baby will look up at you and recognize your familiar voices. You are the ones he has been longing to meet—his mommy and daddy! Get to know your sweet little baby—hold him, rock him, smell his skin, gaze at him, marvel at his tiny fists, caress him. Treasure this awesome miracle!

Day 2

On the day you bring your baby home for the first time, have everyone in your family place their hands on her and pray for her. This will be a precious moment for your family to share together as you welcome her into your family and give thanks to God for this wonderful gift!

Day 3

If you have older children who want to hold their new sibling, use a nursing “donut pillow” to help them support your baby’s head. Have your child sit all the way back on the couch. Place the semicircle nursing pillow around his waist. Set your baby on the pillow with his bottom wedged in between your older child’s tummy and the pillow. Rest your baby’s head on your older child’s arm that is resting on the pillow. Even if your child lets go of the baby, his head will still be secure on the pillow. Of course, you should always be sitting right next to your new baby, monitoring his safety. This also works for young visitors, but I would suggest waiting a week or two before letting a nonfamily-member child hold your baby.

Day 4

Despite what all the books may say, most women experience some soreness (or a lot of soreness!) in the first weeks of nursing. Try using your Lamaze breathing when your baby latches onto your breast. If your nipples are cracked or blistered, blot them dry with a cotton diaper after you have finished nursing. Saliva has enzymes that can irritate sore nipples. After you have dried the saliva off, express a little milk and rub it on your nipples. Let them air dry. Also, do not look down at your baby the entire time you nurse. This position can strain your neck and cause tension headaches. If you can persevere through the first two weeks of nursing, things will get better.

Day 5

Sometimes as a new parent it’s hard to tell whether or not you should call your pediatrician. If you are reluctant to call your doctor in the middle of the night, you can usually call the nursery at the hospital where you gave birth. The nurses are awake and can advise you as to whether you should call your doctor right away or if it can wait until the morning. Do not wait if your baby has a fever higher than 99.9 degrees rectally (this is the most accurate way to take your baby’s temperature). Call your doctor immediately.

Day 6

Drink water every time you nurse to stay hydrated and to maintain your milk supply. Always keep a water bottle close at hand. It is a good idea to set up a “nursing station” wherever you will be nursing the most. Have everything you need right at hand—a water bottle, a burp cloth, a nursing pillow, a book or magazine to read, and nursing pads.

Day 7

When your baby startles while lying on her back (the Moro reflex), gently but firmly hold her hands together close to her chest to calm her and make her feel more secure. Say, “It’s okay, sweetheart. Mommy will help you.” This reflex will disappear by four months.

Reflections on the Week

I prayed for this child, and the Lord has granted me what I asked of him.

1 Samuel 1:27

Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart.

Jeremiah 1:5

An Incredible Love

You have had your baby only one short week and yet you can hardly remember what life was like without him. You prepared for months for his arrival—read books, set up the nursery, went to prenatal classes—yet nothing could prepare you for the overwhelming love you feel for this child. There are no words quite powerful enough to describe the emotions you feel.

Then the impossible happened; each day you grew to love him more. The sheer magnitude of love takes your breath away. Can there be anything more wonderful than when he gazes into your eyes, when you feel his small body curled up in your arms, when you feel his warm breath on your cheek, when his little fingers wrap tightly around yours? Your heart is ready to burst with this new miracle in your life.

It doesn’t matter if this is your first or fifth child, the profound love you feel for your new baby never changes. I remember during my second pregnancy, I secretly worried that I might not love this new baby as much as my first. How could I ever love another child as much as I loved her? But the moment I held my new baby, I knew immediately I had worried for nothing. There was no difference in my love. It was as amazingly wonderful and intense as the love I had for my first. It happened again when my third and fourth children were born. We don’t have to divide our love between our children. Our love actually multiplies, giving us even more love to share. It is one of the ways God’s love works in motherhood. We just have more and more love to give away!

Dear God, thank You for this precious little baby. He is everything I prayed for. Everything about him is perfect. Words can hardly describe how much I love him. Because of him, I have a better idea now of how much You, my heavenly Father, love me. Please help me adjust to all the changes I will face as a new mother. Amen.